Does your child’s secondary school use separate workbooks for each lesson?

[Darksideofthemoon19]

Dd started secondary 3 weeks ago. She’s had homework etc but each time she’s had to do it in her note book then just hand the piece of paper into the teacher. They don’t seem to have individual books for homework like at primary school. Also, I’m surprised they haven’t been given a diary/organisers either? It seems to be just on the School app that homework is given and the timetable is on.

How times have changed since I was at secondary 😂

I've never heard of a secondary school that doesn't have a yearly planner.

My ds is y7 too. Yes he has separate books but homework is all on show my homework rather than a planner.

DD seems to have workbooks for everything and a planner

Lots of schools now use go4schools or similar to set homework. But some still have planners. I'm surprised at them.not having subject books, or could it be the teachers have decided at your DC's school not to send them home. I do find it odd the kids don't take them home at all unless given homework. Then the teachers have to take them all home to mark. But the teachers do need a record in the books that they are marking. It's like they don't trust kids with their own books anymore, and schools that weren't designed for it suddenly have to find storage space for hundreds of books.

I think DD is at one of the few local schools who still have a paper planner, they have had to get local businesses to sponsor it as they can't afford to print them anymore.

All homework is set online, and the students are expected to check daily. They have a timetable for homework so they know what they should get each day, but it might be that for example Maths is set on a Tuesday but her class don't have a maths lesson till Wednesday.

They have books for most subjects, some they have a folder for sheets of A4. Any homework not done online is generally done on a separate sheet and handed in though. She pretty much only brings her books home before assessment week to revise, otherwise they stay in school.

@MigGril

Before I went on maternity leave/sabbatical, I suggested at school that we go back to teacher marking once per week instead of this self assessment thing and the teacher looking in books maybe once a half term which is a norm now. They went mad. Some of the younger teachers under 25 had never collected and had to mark books. It is worse now there is no GCSE coursework. Teachers plan lessons. They don't mark books.

Teachers plan lessons. They don't mark books.

Book marking is, for the most part, pointless.

We are assessed on exams, and exams only. Not marking books - only short and extended tests - gives the onus back to the student to keep adequate records. It also frees up a load of time for teachers to plan engaging lessons and do some training themselves.

Not that the onus bit feeds back to management, but that is a wider issue. We may not mark, but still have to keep an eye on books.

chilledbee my experience of teaching at the point of leaving a few years ago was a huge volume of marking with regular remarking of classwork, homework and assessments so each marked piece was done twice and in detail, plus picking up on details such as presentation and SPAG throughout. It was that that drove the workload from tolerable to excessive (plus all the data analysis and constant back covering).

I've known schools keep books in school, mainly to ensure their continued presence in school. In that case homeworks tended to be tasks such as research or projects that could be completed without them.

I would be surprised if there isn't a method of keeping the work together in school as there is such a strong culture of showing evidence to OFSTED (and Trust management). A school that can only show piecemeal bits of work is in a very vulnerable position. I can believe budgets on book provision being tight though.

Feedback is important, marking books isn’t.

I suggested at school that we go back to teacher marking once per week

Why?!